The Neverending Nuisances of Life

The ants are everywhere. Mosquitoes buzzing in our ears, flies of all sizes, scorpions scurrying out from dry hiding places, spider communities weaving condominiums of webs in the garden. It’s rainy season in Guatemala, and all our insect friends are seeking shelter.

Furthermore, we are all getting older with each passing moment. Aches and pains come with greater frequency. Just this week, I tripped on the stairs and twisted my ankle. It was sore for two days, immediately followed by the arrival of an intense stabbing sensation in my upper back that made me feel elderly, as it caused excruciating pain whenever I tried to reach for something or bend over. Gradually, it’s getting better, though the soreness is still there.

Do you ever have the feeling that “someday” — after you get through the current difficulty — life will be good again? Just past this uncomfortable or even painful challenge, we will reclaim contentment and ease! We will be healthy, gainfully employed following our bliss, in harmony with our partners and families, and restored as an all-around kind, wise, compassionate, intelligent, inspired and inspiring beings on the planet. When we get bigger. When we grow up…

What a farce. The reality is that life is never going to reach this ideal state. There always have been and always will be a continuum of suffering to deal with, from paper cuts to bug bites to misled ego-based arguments to rampant corruption, confusion, contamination, death and taxes. These are the facts of life. The more we can accept them and let go of viewing them as negative nuisances to be avoided or resisted, the better. My practice lately is to instead acknowledge and experience whatever irritation arises with direct awareness, if not utter gratitude for the tiny opportunity for learning that it brings.

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On another note: the present, beyond-imaginable situation facing immigrants, including children, who’ve attempted to cross the southern U.S. border and are being criminalized and detained, their families separated indefinitely by official policy enacted in April — show the true colors of Trump and all the government leaders and stupid citizens who support him: heartless, tiny-brained, self-centered worms.

Everyone with an open heart is upset, and many people are trying to organize meaningful actions. The masses desensitized to the constant lies and inhumane practices of this administration are waking up and saying No, this is too much, we cannot stand for this.

The root of the problem of illegal immigration stems from interminable situations in countries such as Guatemala(and so many others) where people are so driven to desperately try to escape the cycle of poverty and crime which surrounds them that they are willing to risk their lives and lose their families for a chance at higher earnings en el Norte.

The roots of this unjust situation were put into place 500 years ago through colonization and more recently (in the mid-20th century) through the United States’ CIA operations to destabilize pretty much all Latin American governments. Why? To maintain a profitable bottom-line for soulless corporations and keep a system in place that continues to benefit only those with the most wealth and power. To keep the oppressed oppressed. There is a pitiful irony in these same oppressed people seeking asylum right in the place where the oppressors rule.

This is more than a buzzing nuisance, it is the air we breathe and the society of which each of us is a member. The ever-widening gap between filthy rich and downtrodden poor? When will it be enough? Will the tides of our world ever turn to provide basic human rights for so many struggling just to eat decent meals and drink clean water and have a roof over their heads and a warm bed to sleep in?

Those of us who are lucky enough to have food to eat and houses to shelter us must step in and help, in whatever ways we can, for no one can truly be free until all beings are.

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Published by yogafreedom

Michelle Margaret Fajkus is a yoga teacher and freelance writer, editor and translator, as well as the creator of Yoga Freedom. She is a 40-something gringa Gemini in Guatemala where she lives with her family. Michelle learned yoga from a book at age 12 and found zen in California at 23. A native of Austin, Texas, she enjoys reading, writing, hiking, swimming and lounging in hammocks.
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